Plug door operating apparatus

Abstract

Apparatus for operating sliding plug-type railway car doors, of the type in which the front end of the door track is curved toward the car side, the front portion of the door is mounted directly on a track-mounted carriage, and the rear portion of the door is mounted via cranks on a track-mounted carriage, comprises longitudinally movable rack and pinion means on the car side adjacent the door, and mechanism on the door, actuable by longitudinal movement of the rack and pinion means for unlocking the door, rotating the door mounting cranks to swing the rear edge of the door in and out of the door opening, and moving the door longitudinally of the car into and out of registry with the door opening therein.

I claim: 
     
       1. In combination, a wall having a door opening, a plug door for said opening, means mounting said door for movement transversely of the wall between positions within and outside of said opening and longitudinally of the wall out of and into longitudinal registry with said opening, said mounting means including a track mounted on the wall in parallel relation therewith, a carriage riding on said track, an upright shaft rotatably journaled on the door and having a crank pivotally mounted on said carriage and rotatable between a door closed position generally parallel and a door open position angular with respect to said wall, operating means comprising first and second parallel bars mounted on said door for movement lengthwise thereof, said first bar being selectively movable, means normally interconnecting said bars to cause them to move in unison, a first lost-motion link pivotally connected to said first bar and to said shaft for causing said shaft to rotate in a door closing direction when said first bar is moved forwardly with respect to said door a predetermined distance and for leaving said shaft motionless when said first bar is moved rearwardly with respect to said door, a second lost-motion link pivotally connected to said second bar and to said shaft for causing said shaft to rotate in a door opening direction when said second bar is moved forwardly with respect to the door and for leaving said shaft motionless when said second bar is moved rearwardly, and means responsive to rotation of said shaft to door-fully-open position for disengaging said interconnecting means and thereby permitting movement of said first bar to its predetermined door closing position without causing corresponding forward movement of said second bar and consequent further rotation of said shaft, said operating means being engageable with said shaft to move said door along said track between positions in and out of longitudinal registry with said door opening when said shaft is in the door-fully-open position. 
     
     
       2. The combination according to claim 1 including a keeper on said wall adjacent the door opening therein, a locking member slidable lengthwise of said door between a retracted unlocking position and a projected locking position extending into said keeper, said operating means being operatively connected to said locking member to effect its retraction and projection, the operative connections of said operating means to said shaft being arranged to avoid rotation of said shaft in either direction while said locking member is projected. 
     
     
       3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said disengaging means is responsive to movement of said first bar and said shaft to the door fully-closed position to permit reengagement of said interconnecting means upon predetermined rearward movement of said first bar. 
     
     
       4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said wall is provided with a keeper element adjacent the rear edge of the door opening therein and said second bar is formed with a locking member projecting from the rear edge of the door when said second bar is in its rearmost position, said locking member being lockably receivable in said keeper when the door is positioned within the door opening and being retractable forwardly to the rear edge of the door during movements of the door transversely of the wall. 
     
     
       5. The combination according to claim 4 wherein said lost-motion links are connected to the respective bars forwardly of said upright shaft and to opposite sides of said shaft whereby to operate in tension to perform their respective functions. 
     
     
       6. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said travel bars are formed with longitudinally spaced rearwardly and forwardly facing shoulders engageable respectively with the front and rear sides of said shaft when said door is positioned transversely outwardly of said opening, for moving said door forwardly toward registry with said opening responsive to forward movement of said first travel bar and rearwardly out of registry with said door opening responsive to rearward movement of said travel bars. 
     
     
       7. The combination according to claim 6 wherein said interconnecting means comprises a pair of normally vertically aligned holes in said bars and a vertically slidable pin carried by the upper of said travel bars. 
     
     
       8. The combination according to claim 7 wherein said pin has an enlarged head normally positioned in spaced relation above the upper of said bars, and said disengaging means comprises a lever fulcrumed to the door on a vertical axis, a first arm on said shaft engageable with said lever to move the latter out of the path of said pin head when the shaft rotates to the door closed position so as to permit said pin to drop into the hole in the lower of said bars when said holes are aligned by rearward movement of said first bar to fully-closed position whereby to cause said second bar to move rearwardly and causes engagement of said locking member and said keeper element, and a second arm on said shaft engageable with said lever to move the latter into the path of said pin head when said shaft rotates to the door-open position so that forward movement of said bars thereafter causes said lever to underlyingly engage said pin head and raise the pin out of engagement with the aligned hole in the bottom bar, permitting the latter to continue its forward movement and, through said first lost-motion link, cause door-closing rotation of said shaft without corresponding forward motion of said second bar. 
     
     
       9. The combination according to claim 8 wherein said pin head is formed as a cam, the top surface of which curves gradually downwardly from its inboard to its outboard side and from its rear end toward its front end and with its bottom surface curving gradually upwardly toward its front end, and the top of said lever is curved gradually downwardly and from front to rear and the inboard side of said lever is outwardly tapered and its bottom surface arcuately recesses near its rear end to facilitate coaction with the cooperating surfaces of said pin head cam clearing the same when said lever is swung outwardly by said shaft and underlyingly engaging the cam when said lever is in its inboard position. 
     
     
       10. The combination according to claim 1 including actuating means mounted on said wall for selective movements in directions lengthwise thereof and means pivotally connecting said actuating means to said operating means. 
     
     
       11. The combination according to claim 10 wherein said actuating means comprises a rack mounted on said wall, a gear box slidably mounted on said rack, a pinion journaled in said gear box and engaging said rack, means for selectively rotating said pinion, and link means connecting said gear box to said operating means. 
     
     
       12. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the front end of said track bends inwardly toward said wall, said shaft being journaled on the rear portion of said door, and a second carriage being pivoted directly to the front portion of said door and resting on the front inwardly-bent end of said track when the door is closed.